Gentle and Lowly

One of the first messages that I ever preached was from Matthew 11:28-30. What a wonderful and comforting invitation our Savior has given to His image bearers!

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (ESV).

In our spiritual weariness and sin burden, we often are tempted to think that this invitation is a duty to our Lord. I often envision it as our Lord is extending His arm toward me while holding His nose! Nothing could be farther from the truth concerning our Lord’s heart. It is in the context of our brokenness and failures that our Lord reaches toward us with His invite, “come to me!”

The analogy our Savior uses is one that His first century followers and looky-loo’s understood. The yoke was used to bring two oxen together so that work in the fields of a farm could be accomplished. Jesus’ invitation is to join beside Him in the yoke and learn from Him. It was not an uncommon practice that still exist today in some agricultural contexts to yoke an experienced animal with an inexperienced animal. This

is the beautiful picture that Lord paints for His longing relationship with His followers.

The comparison of the yoke in this invitation has a contrasting counterpart. As Dane Ortlund writes his wonderful book, Gentle and Lowly, our Lord’s yoke is an “un-yoke,” and His burden is an “un-burden.” Normal yokes require hard work and burdens are by definition heavy. Let’s not miss the promise that Jesus invites us to experience, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light!”

It is in our weakness and failure that our Lord invites us to come. Our intuitive mindset as humans is to think that He is drawn to me when I have done what is right in His eyes. While He is glorified when by the power of His Spirit, believers live obedient lives,

this invitation reveals the heart of our Savior. He seeks out those who are weary and heavy burdened because He is gentle and lowly in His very core. His heart’s desire is to be with and bring rest of soul to those who acknowledge their desperate weary and

heavy condition.

There is only one condition to walking side by side with the One whose heart is gentle and lowly: “Come to me.” Have you come? Those that place their faith in Jesus are invited day by day and moment by moment to “come.” It is not a one and done, but

rather, a life-long relationship of coming to Him in our desperate need and joining together with Him in His “un-yoke” and “un-burden.” Responding to this continuous invitation is the only pathway to learning deeply from Him and enjoying His abiding soul-

rest.

—Dr. David Ley, Alaska Bible College President